Manoa Representative Isaac Choy gets credit for shooting down HB 2869, the bill to expand available tax credits to the film industry.
The conference committee convened at 9 a.m. yesterday, then soon recessed until 1 p.m. as industry lobbyists pushed to maximize benefits for the film companies and their investors beyond current limits.
Choy, co-chair of the House conferees on the bill, reportedly agreed to extend the existing film credits, but the offer was rejected as the Senate conferees, led by Sen. Fukunaga, pushed for a bigger payoff for the industry, and sought support for a proposed conference draft. Choy refused, and the bill appeared to be dead.
But it got a reprieve when the final decking deadline with pushed out, giving time for more behind the scenes maneuvering by lobbyists and pro-industry legislators.
Choy has more than a passing interest in this issue. He served as chair of the Tax Review Commission (2005-2007) which recommended an overhaul of the Act 221 high tech tax credits, among other changes.
I commented back in January 2009 that Choy had hit the ground running as a new representative by raising pointed questions about tax credit policies.
Now Choy, as a member of the Finance Committee and vice-chair of Economic Revitalization, Business, & Military Affairs, has been able to ask extremely sharp and pointed questions as Act 221 is again under review.
It’s refreshing to watch professionals who really know their stuff able to fill positions where they can immediately put their knowledge and experience to work. The public is certainly going to benefit.
During his 2010 reelection campaign, I again noted Choy’s strong critical views on tax credits.
• In an email, Representative Isaac Choy’s campaign chairman questioned why the Hawaii Venture Capital Association made an endorsement in just one legislative race.
The only House or Senate race at the State Legislature was for Kimberly Case against Rep. Isaac Choy. Isn’t it odd that the proponents of the 221 tax credit go after the one state legislator who they see as the roadblock to their cash flow? Forget the Gov’s race, these greedy folks want to suck another $100 million a year from the state for the next ten years, again.
While I disagreed strongly with Choy’s backing of a bill to restrict public information about consumer complaints, I was quite impressed with the level of his participation during Finance Committee discussions of the budget, these tax credits, and other issues. Choy, who is a CPA, raised the level of committee discussion and provided key perspectives.
No wonder he’s been targeted by the HVCA, I guess.
I feel what we need in this country and every state is a positive attitude regarding paying your fair share of taxes. If everybody paid their fair share and yes, the rich would pay more I bet a large amount of our fiscal problems could be dealt with.
But poor folks like most of us hear about how the large corporations and rich people get all the breaks we develop a negative attitude about paying our share.
Frankly those film companies and their investors should happily pay taxes, Hawaii is worth the price for dogs sake.
I spent a lot of time at the Capitol during Choy’s first term. I agree that we need more like him. Accountants are trained to be critical thinkers, and I watched Rep Choy apply this skill repeatedly.
One of the first committee hearings I attended had the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation requesting emergency funding. Rep Choy was silent as other legislators asked their questions. Then at the end, he asked the CEO who was testifying, “do you have your audited financial statements with you? I’d like to get a copy to look at.”. The answer was, “not with us today, we can get it to you.”. What does that tell you about the level of knowledge/ability/accountability of the pre-Choy Lege that people would show up to a finance committee meeting begging for money and not bring financials? And this was Driskill(sp?), who had been in the position for some time and was experienced at testifying in front of committee. It was clearly a question that he was not accustomed to hearing.
We desperately need a few more accountants and economists in our Lege. They aren’t the be all and end all, but they bring some skills to the table that we don’t have enough of. We could live with a few less attorneys.
“not with us today, we can get it to you ” or ” we don’t have the answer, we’ll get back to you” is the common ploy at public hearings.
The dumb part is politicians voted on the measure anyways before more information. The most recent is the HART budget at the city council. http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/Council-member-upset-rail-project-will-start-major-construction-on-Monday/-/8905354/11351856/-/9dbxovz/-/index.html You can no longer trust their words. You have to verify. Budget is the best leverage.
Mahalo, Isaac. Voice of reason.